Cryo
by Omniscientearl
Summary: Frozen in a block of magical ice after his fight with Saffron, Ranma has awoken after nearly two hundred years.
1. Welcome to the World of Tomorrow

**Cryo**

**Disclaimer – **I do not own Ranma One Half or Mass Effect, those are owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Electronic Arts, respectively.

**Authors Note**

I've recently been on a two month kick playing Mass Effect one and two, and finishing it all off with Mass Effect three. As usual a story idea came to me. Unusually that idea took hold and I felt the need to begin writing some more. For those worried about my other stories, all data was recently lost, and I am currently working at recovering as much as I can and reconstructing what I can't recover.

"Speech"

_Thought_.

**Chapter 1 – Welcome to the World of Tomorrow!**

_Cold!_ That was the first thought that echoed across his perception in what his returning consciousness felt was a long time. Hazy nothingness was beginning to lift as stimuli started to assault his mind. _Cold and wet._ His mind groused, as his sense of touch was beginning to return. He tried to take a deep breath to center his thoughts, but his throat rebelled at the harshness it felt as air was drawn though the dry cavity. He began to cough.

His head rang as someone's voice began shouting excitedly. He couldn't understand the language off the top of his head. It sure wasn't Japanese. Coming closer to full awareness, he decided to be brave, and began to open his eyes. That proved to be a mistake, as blindingly white light nearly burned his eyes out, the searing pain causing him to black out.

* * *

><p><em>Warm!<em> Was the next thought that broke through the blackness. He was warm and dry, thankfully. He dared to take a deep breath, and was rewarded with the feeling of his lungs filling with air, sans the coughing fit he was subject to earlier. He slowly cracked open just his left eye. The soft glow of several devices might as well have been the light cast off from the midday sun to his eyes. He averted his gaze, grunting in pain as his neck began to tell him that he slept in a very uncomfortable position for who knew how long.

He fully opened his eyes at that point, his head facing away from the source of the light mitigating the brightness inside the room. Logically he knew that the light must not be very bright, given that he had just woken up, but his eyes continued to tell him that they were taking in more light than they could handle right now. He was able to tell that he was in what seemed to be a hospital room, and he was lying on a bed, with an IV hooked into his arm.

He could hear some muffled voices outside the room he was in. He looked around the room and saw a door on the wall opposite him. The door opened admitting someone into the room, make that at least two people as he could hear them talking to each other, unable to make out the language. They approached him, saying something to him as they approached. He could feel one of them place something over his eyes, some sort of eye-wear, he thought, because he could still see.

He heard a click as the room was bathed in light, colors filled his vision, but his eyes did not hurt from the brightness. He looked around in wonder, taking in the details of the room, and eventually, the people before him.

There were three people, a man and two women. The man was older, Caucasian, with short, peppered black hair, a face beginning to wrinkle and kind, brown eyes. He was wearing an odd outfit, he couldn't guess at the material, but the coat was oddly reminiscent of a lab coat or doctor's coat. The two women wore similar clothing.

The first woman seemed to be around the man's age, however she was Asian, she was talking to the second woman in a language he could not recognize, so guessing her country of origin was beyond him. Her black hair was held back in a pony tail, and her face held an expression of excitement as she looked over the various monitoring devices hooked up to him.

The second woman looked to be fairly young, probably a university student judging by how she seemed to be dutifully recording everything the older woman was saying on an odd device that looked very much like an orange, see-through clip board. She tapped away at the screen she was holding, her blue eyes flashing back and forth as she read over her recordings, all while still faithfully recording everything the older woman was saying. She had brown hair tied back in a similar pony tail as the older woman.

The older man started to talk to him, asking him questions, he guessed, but he just couldn't understand the gibberish he heard.

"I'm sorry", he said to the older man, his voice raw with inactivity, "but I can't understand a word that you're saying." The older man nodded in understanding, before producing what appeared to be a small wristwatch like device along with a small bead. The man placed the device around his wrist and the small bead into his left hear. He watched as the man manipulated the small device on his wrist, causing the band to constrict, securing it into place without being painful.

The man gestured to his wristwatch like device and showed him on a similar device on the man's own wrist a small button to push. He pushed the button when suddenly orange light spilled out of the device and wrapped around his hand in a strange gauntlet. The man nodded for a moment, muttering to himself as he grabbed his wrist and began to poke and prod at the orange light.

He could hear a second voice, identical to the man's start to speak over the man's repeated mutterings as he manipulated the orange light. The odd thing was that the second voice would change the way it was talking each time the older man poked at his device. Eventually he heard something that made sense.

"Can you understand me now?" the voice asked over the man's voice. The man smiled at the shocked look on his face. He nodded emphatically.

"Yes, I can!" He said excitedly. The man held his smile and nodded.

"Good," the voice said, again over the older man's own words. "Japanese, then, but a rather archaic dialect." The man said to the younger woman. She nodded and poked at the screen some more. "Well then, I guess we can get this little interview under way." The older man looked back to him, and smiled. "Now, young lady, my name is doctor Allan Hart, and with me are doctor Xian Wei and our young intern Rebecca O'Corrigan. And your name is?" Dr. Hart's words caught him off guard.

_Young lady?_ He thought in confusion, and looked down only just now noticing the swell of her breasts and the thinness of her arms. _Oh, I guess I am right now. _She had to think for a moment as her mind continued to clear. Her name, what was it? Slowly the words came back to her, and she was able to answer. "My name is Ranma, Ranma Saotome." Dr. Hart smiled at her words, and then proceeded with his next question.

"Very good, Miss Saotome, and can you tell me what year it is?"

"1987, right?"

* * *

><p>Ranma found herself sitting in the hospital bed alone, again. The goggles around her head had long since been removed as her eyes once more became acclimated to the light for the first time in nearly two hundred years.<p>

Two hundred years. It was unbelievable, but it seemed to be the truth. The year was now 2171 almost exactly two hundred years to the day after her birth. The doctors had asked her some questions about the Gekkaja that they had found in her possession as well as the nature of the ice they had found her in.

After she explained the properties of the Jusendo waters and the Gekkaja as far as she knew, they began to talk excitedly with one another, seeming to forget she was in the room. That suited her just fine, she needed some time to think through what had happened.

The waters of the dragon tap had exploded when the fight between her and Saffron had moved back to the interior of the mountain. She remembered watching as Akane's doll form began to reconstitute as it was flung away from her in the deluge.

She had started to feel unnaturally cold and recalled trying to abandon the Gekkaja as it froze the waters of Jusendo around her, but to no avail. She was rewarded in her last fading moments when a perfect Shishi Hokodan was launched from Ryouga, annihilating Saffron's now frozen body, while Mousse pulled Akane's healed body away from the blast.

She relaxed in the knowledge that at least they had been successful. Akane had been rescued, even if it had been at the cost of her life. She knew from her conversation with Dr. Hart, that had gone over her head, that the ice she was trapped in was nearly indestructible, becoming more and more invulnerable to heat and damage the closer the ice was to the Gekkaja.

Even if Ryouga had tried, she had serious doubts that he would have been able to break her free of the frozen Jusendo water without destroying her as well. The only thing wrong now was the fact that she no longer had a life as she knew it. No family, friends, or enemies. All were long since gone to the pages of history. She was brought out of her musings by Dr. Hart.

"Well, Ranma, I'm sure this must all be very troubling for you, having lost so much time." Dr. Hart began, "While I would enjoy nothing more than to discuss history with you, we really must continue our excavation of the Mt. Phoenix area. I will leave you to the expert care of Dr. Wei here, while I contact the Japanese government and arrange transport out of the Chinese People's Federation."

Dr. Wei approached Ranma as Dr. Hart and Rebecca left the room. Ranma sighed as Dr. Wei began her medical exam. The depression she felt at the loss of her friends and family was something she knew would be difficult to overcome.

* * *

><p>Five years later found Ranma sitting in the corner booth of a small Cafe in one of the many impossibly tall skyscrapers that had begun to spring up all over Tokyo. Apparently the combined wealth and resources of several new interstellar colonies did wonders for global economics. That, and intergalactic trade with various alien species using a recently discovered Mass Relay Network.<p>

Once again in male form, Ranma was sipping at a small cup of tea as he was reviewing for an upcoming test in one of his university classes. He stopped for a moment as a notion had swept over him. He had certainly come a long way after he had been unfrozen.

Upon returning to Japan he had spent nearly two months in a rehabilitation clinic that helped him come to terms with his loss. The clinic also helped him apply for the government aid necessary to support himself as he was still a minor, biologically speaking.

Having a fresh lease on life, Ranma once again began to attend high school, as well as continuing to hone and practice his art, luckily keeping his curse under wraps. Following graduation he immediately signed up for university, having found a desire in life to go beyond just martial arts.

That desire had started out as a novelty. Not having a dojo to inherit any more, Ranma found himself at a loss for what to do with his prowess in the martial arts. It did not take long to remember one of the few martial artists he knew that did not actively use his art in battle or teach it. It was Dr. Tōfū. The idea of helping people beyond just physical protection appealed to Ranma, and he determined to become a chiropractor, just like the manic doctor.

He had only one more year of undergraduate studies before he could begin his professional studies. Almost one step closer to his goal. That wasn't to say that his love of adventure and excitement had died down. No, Ranma had a plan. Thanks to the recent Systems Alliance Cultural Outreach Program, Ranma was going to try and open a practice on the Citadel: a giant space station that was the center of the galactic community.

Music caught his attention and broke him out of his musings. He looked up at the vid screen nearby and was presented with the sight of hundreds in attendance for an award ceremony. Quickly reading the caption that scrolled across the bottom of the screen, Ranma was informed the recipient was one Jane Shepard. He pushed his book away and settled back to watch the ceremony. If he remembered correctly, she was supposed to be receiving the Star of Terra, for her actions during what was now being termed the Skyllian Blitz.

The Camera zoomed in on a pretty young woman, somewhere around his age if he guessed, wearing an Alliance Navy uniform, her head held proudly high. Medium length red hair framed her pale face, and a splash of freckles across her nose underscored green eyes that sparkled as they swept across the crowd. An admiral droned on about her accomplishment before pinning the medal to her uniform. The camera panned across the crowd one more time before cutting away to a newscaster repeating the story of Shepard's heroics during the Blitz.

Ranma continued to watch as several scenes taken from security cameras around Elysium showed the battle before focusing on Jane's exploits. One scene caught his attention more than any other, however. He watched as the young woman, wearing nothing more than civilian clothing ran just ahead of gunfire at a breach in the hastily erected defenses, armed with only a pistol.

She glowed with a blue light as she gestured with an outstretched hand before diving behind some landscaping, moving flush against a low stone barrier. Three pirates were flung away by a wave of transparent blue force as Jane activated her omni-tool. Working furiously as bullets rained about her, she manipulated the omni-tool, the planes of orange light spinning rapidly at her prodding. Not even ten seconds later, a vehicle rose into the air without a driver and sped toward the breach. The car collided into several more pirates who were unable to back away as more and more of their cohorts tried to pile in behind them.

The footage ended at that point with a statement from the anchor that any other footage available was too graphic for public television. Ranma found himself impressed by the woman. Sure her physical ability might not be anywhere near his, but she fought with skill and determination that few had when faced with such odds.

The program soon faded to advertisement, and Ranma once again took a sip of his cooling tea before picking his book back up and continuing to read. Though intent on continuing his studies, Ranma couldn't help but mull over the broadcast and Jane, the person at the center of the events depicted. She was out in the galaxy, experiencing all that the frontier had to offer. He fully intended to get there too, in his own way.

* * *

><p>Ranma was standing in the aisle next to his seat aboard the transport. He couldn't believe it, from what he had heard back in his youth a flight from Japan to the United States took nearly twelve hours. He was standing at the airlock door, ready to disembark onto the Citadel after only six hours. He really tried not to think about it too much, though, but the difference in technology still astounded him.<p>

The ride had been rather pleasant, he mused. He was on a high-class transport, being a beneficiary of SACOP. Breaking free from Earth's gravity had been incredibly boring, with almost no feeling of acceleration, and jumping to faster-than-light speeds had been equally gentle. It was the sights that had been the real pleasure, though.

He had been given a seat near one of the observation decks, a seat which he spent nearly no time in at all. As soon as they had left Earth's gravity, an announcement informed them that they could move about freely, but to be in a secure location when they arrived at the mass relay. Ranma quickly made his way to the nearest observation deck and strapped himself into one of the available seats there. He was not going to miss a single sight.

He looked out the rather large window at the Earth. His home planet seemed to drift with a lazy spin through space. Its backdrop was breathtaking; it was a sea of stars he had never seen with such clarity, even given his time traveling the most wild areas of China.

He could still spot familiar constellations, but he knew they would not remain for long. He felt a light jerk as the interstellar vessel he was on turned sharply. The view changed as the ship swung about, gifting him a brief view of the sun before quickly speeding off away from the celestial body. What came next was something he would never have guessed at.

As the ship accelerated he saw the stars begin to stretch slightly, nothing like the long stretching from the movies he watched back in his time. The stars began to separate into a rainbow of colors before finally fading entirely. What replaced the view was astonishing. Other bodies appeared, pulsing with strange lights, odd disks spun in the blackness, and bursts like small disco lights appeared here and there.

That sight eventually faded once more, as the space vessel slowed, allowing the stars to be visible once more. Ranma was treated to the sight of a large two-pronged fork like device. As the prongs came closer together they flared out suddenly creating a circular shape. In the middle of the circle were two rapidly spinning rings surrounding an enormous cloud of nebulous energy. This was a mass relay. His heart rate quickened at the spectacle.

As the ship approached a stream of energy, like a slow motion lighting bolt reached out from the relay and embraced the ship.

"Prepare for mass relay jump," a voice announced. Ranma leaned forward in his seat. There was a sudden jerk and flash of light, and the star field was suddenly very different than it had been before. He could briefly see another relay before another flash and jerk. It happened several times, before another announcement was sent through the ship.

"Relay jump successful," the voice said. The flight from there had proceeded much as it had as the trip from Earth to the Charon Relay. The only difference was the sight as the ship slowed once more.

"Approaching the Citadel," was announced, and Ranma was gifted with a stunning view of an impossible space station.

The Citadel was massive, five long arms reaching out from a central circle, spinning in space. A grid of lights was visible on the inside of each arm, like sprawling cities. This was different from what he had imagined. He knew the Citadel was big, he had even seen pictures of it when he was applying for his grant from SACOP, but nothing he had seen before had prepared him for the first person experience.

Ranma's reminiscing ended at the hissing sound of the air lock beginning to open, and light spilled into the ship. The noise of the dock filtered back to him as the line of people began to move. He was part of a group of nine beneficiaries of SACOP, only one other of who was Japanese. The other Japanese man was quite the smooth talker, convincing SACOP that the Citadel was in dire need of a ramen restaurant.

He hefted his pack onto his shoulder, and began to follow as the line moved. Stepping off the transport and onto the Citadel for the first time, Ranma quickly looked around, the group he was with was supposed to find a representative waiting for them. The crowd outside appeared to be relatively light, and all human so far.

The murmur of the crowd around him became a low, but constant buzz in his ears as he looked about, gawking at the interior of the station. Screens along the smooth metallic walls depicted advertisements, nearly all of them in English, the Systems Alliance standard language. A few of them, here and there, depicted beautiful blue skinned women, with intense eyes and tentacle like fringe in place of hair.

"Sacop! Sacop participants over here!" a voice called out across the crowd, drawing Ranma's attention. The person yelling across the crowd was a rather young man, not much older than Ranma, wearing a modern tan suit, with short red hair in a rather smart style and wearing glasses. He was waving one arm enthusiastically in the air and holding up a long datapad with SACOP scrolling across the screen.

Ranma tapped the shoulders of the group he was with, getting their attention and gesturing toward the somewhat frantic man.

"That's our guy, I guess," he said to them as he began to move toward their representative. Expertly weaving through the crowd, Ranma quickly made his way to the man.

"Hey, you're the sacop guy, right?" Ranma asked as he walked up.

"That's me," the man said with a smile, silently counting each person as they approached. "Aaron Aaronson, pleased to meet you." He reached out a hand as he finished accounting for every sacop participant. Ranma grasped the hand firmly and gave it a shake, a gesture he learned was more common in this age than it had been when he grew up in Japan.

"Ranma Saotome, likewise." Ranma said, to which the man smiled and collapsed the datapad to a more traditional size before calling up a list with their names on it.

"Saotome, right, here you are," Aaron said as he marked off Ranma's name on the list. "Let's get everyone accounted for and we'll get on our way through customs, and then to Ambassador Udina's office for your welcoming ceremony and orientation." Ranma smiled, glad that things were finally picking up pace, the flight was short and fairly exciting, but he still wanted to settle in and experience the galactic community.

He stepped back and wondered at how light he felt right now. If he remembered correctly, the gravity here at the Presidium was about a third of the Earth's gravity. He would have to see if there was a way to correct that, as he knew from his chiropractic classes that long term exposure to low gravity could be rather harmful.

"Right, that's everyone," Aaron's voice called, "let's get going then, shall we?" Aaron led them quickly to customs helping everyone fill out the necessary forms.

Ranma paused when after filling out his date of birth, the Virtual Intelligence on the datapad he was using locked up. He hated it when that happened.

"Hey, Aaron," Ranma got the young representative's attention, "got a small problem." Aaron made his way over to Ranma at the announcement.

"Yes? What seems to be the problem?" Aaron asked. Ranma held out his datapad for the representative, and pointed at the date of birth field.

"Junk VI." Ranma explained, "that's what. Happens all the time, the thing won't take my date of birth." Confused, Aaron took the datapad from Ranma.

"1971? That can't be right." Aaron mused aloud. Ranma sighed, he didn't really like having to talk about himself that much.

"It is," Ranma corrected, "there was a small accident when I was younger. All said and done I was frozen for a little while." Aaron boggled at the simplistic explanation.

"A small accident, huh?" Aaron deadpanned as he reset the datapad. "I won't ask too much about what kind of accident it could be, hand me your ID and I'll go ahead and make the adjustments necessary." Ranma pulled out his ID from his pocket and handed it to the other man. Aaron looked at it for a moment moving it about in the light to note the security features were correct. Nodding in satisfaction, he changed some settings to the VI programming and handed the datapad and ID back to Ranma.

"Okay, I set the date of birth field for you, there are no other surprises, I hope?" He asked.

"Nothing comes to mind," Ranma deflected before continuing to fill out the form. Aaron shook his head and returned to the other participants, helping them where they needed it. After putting the finishing touches on the form he walked over and handed the datapad to one of the clerks at the customs desk.

The clerk looked over the datapad then hooked it up to the terminal she was working at. After a moment a small ping alerted the clerk and she pulled out a small card and handed it to Ranma.

"Here you go, sir," she said as Ranma took the card, "Please proceed through to the next room and wait for your group." Ranma nodded and walked past the desk to the next room. He found four of the other SACOP participants and moved over to wait with them. He was here at last, moments away from starting his new life on the Citadel.

* * *

><p>Ranma turned the artificial gravity down to one third Earth's gravity as he entered the small room in his practice. He made sure the ties on his uwagi were secure and then turned to his patient, the third one today. He approached the blue woman, rolling his wrists to help limber up the joints.<p>

"Okay, Sha'ira," Ranma said to the beautiful Asari consort, "back for another weekly realignment?" Sha'ira looked up from the table she was sitting on and smiled at the doctor as he approached.

"Indeed, Ranma," she said, before laying down on the table. "I thank the Goddess every week for the gift of your skilled hands." Ranma chuckled lightly at the praise. He began feeling around her spine, searching for any misaligned vertebrae.

"You should have met my mentor," Ranma offered, "I took a ball to the face once, and he was able to tell who did it just by looking at the bruise." Ranma smiled at the memory, not mentioning that Tōfū had been making a wild guess. He quickly began to massage the muscles around her spine to help reduce tension.

"Ah, yes," Sha'ira sighed in contentment, "the mysterious Dr. Tōfū. Named for a food product made from a mythic Earth bean, correct?" Ranma laughed.

"Sorry, not quite," Ranma explained, "you're thinking of Tōfu. His name was Tōfū, it means east wind." Using the knuckles of his index and middle finger he began to push her spine back into proper alignment.

"Mmm," Sha'ira moaned as he began to massage tension away once more. "Such an interesting language, is it common on Earth?"

"Depends where you're from," Ranma offered, "Earth still has many different countries, and there are several different major languages." Sha'ira accepted the explanation, content to let Ranma work in silence for a while. Ranma marveled at the texture of the Asari's skin not for the first time. The light played off the micro sized scales of her skin, but the feel was so smooth, indistinguishable from a human's.

Ranma finished the rubdown with a few quick presses at key points on along the Asari's back. He had long since approximated pressure points on Asari, Turians, and Salarians. He was still working on the Elcor, though, those big guys were tough to handle, and no Krogan had ever come through his door yet. Sha'ira sighed in contentment, stretching languidly.

"Ranma," she said, "your hands are simply divine. I can't think of anything more relaxing." She cast a smokey gaze at the young man. He chuckled nervously at her advance, which had become common place after her first few visits two years prior. It was thanks to her patronage that he had been so successful. Apparently a suggestion from her to her clients was worth a fortune.

"You should try the acupuncture, then," Ranma said, keeping the nerves from his voice, "much more effective." Sha'ira crinkled her nose cutely at the suggestion.

"And miss having those wonderful hands on my back?" She playfully asked, "I'd sooner never make an appointment again. Speaking of which, when will you make an appointment for my services? I'd be more than willing to rearrange my schedule for you." Ranma sweated lightly as she continued to push the issue.

"You know its bad form for a doctor to become involved with a patient," Ranma explained, hoping to put the issue to rest without hurting the beautiful girl's feelings. Sha'ira pouted at his words.

"Of course," she said, "I wouldn't want to ruin your reputation. However, Ranma, despite recent rumors, I am very discreet. No one's secrets have ever left my lips." She dragged one of her fingers across her bottom lip, causing Ranma to shiver in response to the stimulating sight. Sha'ira was definitely being more aggressive today.

Thankfully a terminal in a different room began to chirp enthusiastically, saving Ranma from the blue woman's attack.

"Damn, wouldja look at that," Ranma said dramatically, "I would love to keep going down that path, but duty calls. I'll see you in the lobby." He made a hasty retreat, ignoring a muttered curse from Sha'ira and moving quickly down the hallway. He climbed the stairs to the second floor, where his apartment was and made his way to a the noisy terminal where it hung on his wall. He slipped on a thimble like device to allow him to manipulate the holographic display and answered the call.

"Ranma here," he said to the terminal as it began to bring up the image of a red haired woman in a lab coat. It was Dr. Chloe Michel, a friend and colleague. She appeared somewhat distraught.

"Ranma, thank goodness you're there." Chloe's accent came strong across his translation device. "I know you must be busy, but I need a favor." Ranma silently thanked whatever god might be listening. This was just what he needed to get away from Sha'ira, as alluring as the woman was, she was a little forward for his tastes.

"Anything, doc," Ranma said, "what do you need?" Chloe rolled her eyes when Ranma called her doc.

"A situation has come up," the doctor explained, "I didn't think it was too big of a problem at first, but some people got involved that makes me think the situation is far more dangerous than expected. I know the people involved are capable, but after your help with Fist's goons two years ago, I think she may need your help."

"Who needs my help, Chloe?" Ranma asked, "what's happened?"

"Earlier today a young Quarian named Tali came to my clinic," Dr. Michel said, pausing for a brief moment, "she had been shot. I treated her quickly and relieved some of the infection. She had some important information, and she was looking for protection. She wanted to be put in contact with the Shadow Broker."

"Fist..." Ranma hazarded a guess.

"You're right," Chloe acknowledged, "I put her in contact with Fist. I despise the man, but when it comes to overhead, even Fist wouldn't go against the Shadow Broker, or so I thought. Some men came a little later and began to threaten me, to keep me quiet. I was rescued by Garrus and Commander Shepard. They went to find Fist, and from there the Quarian."

"But if they don't make it to Fist in time," Ranma pressed Chloe for more information.

"If Fist no longer works for the Shadow Broker, then he will probably get rid of the Quarian." Ranma nodded at the explanation. Fist was ruthless, but luckily he was predictable.

"Gotcha," Ranma said, "he'll probably send her to the killing alley. I'm out the door right now." Chloe smiled at Ranma as he killed the connection. He practically jumped down the stairs, and ran to the front door of his clinic.

"Sorry, Sha'ira," Ranma apologized as he ran by, "something really big came up, today's on the house. Could you lock up for me? The code's 1971." He was already sprinting along the Presidium pathways before the captivating Asari could respond.

Ranma ducked and weaved around other pedestrians, skillfully evading any potential accidents and pointedly ignoring shouts in his direction. The killing alley, it was one of the alleys near Chora's Den that Fist was infamous for using to take care of people who were in his way. Unfortunately, there was never enough evidence to implicate him, and he continued to use the alley with impunity.

Ranma bounced on the balls of his feet as he waited on an elevator. The things were fast, probably the fastest elevators he had ever been on. The problem was that the Citadel was so huge, it took forever just to get anywhere on the speedy contraptions.

Finally the doors of the elevator opened, allowing Ranma to begin his sprint once more. Following the translucent signs he made his way quickly through the streets and corridors leading to Chora's Den, adrenalin increasing in his system. He hoped he made it it time.

Turning one last corner, he found the door that would permit him access to the killing alley. He could hear muffled voices on the other side. One of the voices sounded Turian and the other was the mechanical din of a Quarian, a female judging by the high pitch.

He rushed through the doors as they opened with a loud hiss. There he saw an unmistakably female Quarian brushing the clawed hand of a Turian thug away. Several Salarians in armor began to raise their guns in a threatening manner. That was all Ranma needed to see, he sprang into action, literally. He jumped into the air with a shout.

"Oh, no you don't," Ranma called out as he sailed through the air, catching everyone's attention immediately. He landed between two Salarians, and before they could react he grabbed each by the helmet and brought them together with a sickening thud, letting them fall senselessly to the ground. The others reacted more quickly than their two unfortunate companions.

Gunfire began to ring out through the alley, every bullet pierced the air, intent on pulping the unarmed interloper. None found their mark, as Ranma began to move as only he could. His body ducked, swayed and rolled, allowing each projectile to pass within millimeters of his person.

_Damn this is worse than fighting Kuno, _Ranma thought as he moved through the gunfire toward the last remaining Salarians. There were three of them further up the alley, and the Turian was already engaged with the Quarian girl. He had to move quickly, with lethal weapons in the mix, every moment was a waste of precious time. He couldn't fail the girl. Letting his life energy spread to his limbs, Ranma sped up his movements, surprising his opponents.

Before one of the Salarians could blink, Ranma was upon him. Grabbing his gun hand, Ranma twisted the hapless alien's body, swinging him through the air like a giant club.

"Get lost!" Ranma shouted, throwing the Salarian hard into one of his allies. The Salarian's shoulder struck his teammate in the head, cracking the visor and knocking his friend out. The thrown Salarian continued through the air, striking the wall headfirst and falling to the ground in a boneless heap.

With one last Salarian left, Ranma moved once more into action. The alien had jumped back when his teammate was thrown, but didn't have time to raise his weapon again when Ranma lashed out with an Earth shattering kick. His kinetic barrier proved useless as Ranma's foot annihilated it as though it were nothing more than a thin piece of wood, continuing through the air to connect with his chest plate. A crack rang out as a gunshot and the Salarian flew through the air to join his comrades in unconsciousness.

Ranma looked up at the final assailant, hoping he had time to save the damsel in distress. The Turian stood over the Quarian girl, his gun an abandoned sparking mess on the ground. He was raising his hand up, brandishing a knife with obvious intent. Too bad for him he was facing the wrong direction. Ranma gathered his energy into his right hand and threw it out, palm forward, wordlessly launching a ball of super dense air.

"Its a shame such a pretty girl had t-urk!" The Turian's statement ended in a strangled exclamation as he was struck by the ball of dense air Ranma had thrown. The blast had thrown him over the Quarian and into the wall, his unprotected head cracking against the surface and ending his wicked life. Ranma grimaced as he watched the result, but didn't allow himself to brood.

Quickly moving up to the prone girl, Ranma smiled, and held out his hands in a nonthreatening manner. He took in the girl's appearance.

She had a slim build, with wide hips. She was wearing an environmental suit. The suit was wrapped in various shades of purple cloth, including a hood over her helmet. He couldn't see her face through the clouded glass of her visor, but he could see two eyes shining through the cloudy material. They were almond shaped, and wide with awe. Gently Ranma reached out a hand to help the girl up.

* * *

><p>Jane Shepard's legs burned as she ran as fast as she could, leading her teammates in a race against time. She gulped air into her abused lungs, keeping vital oxygen pouring through her system. She silently prayed as she turned corner after corner that she would make it to the Quarian in time, humanity depended on it.<p>

Just moments earlier Fist had told them that the Quarian was meeting some of Saren's agents, where they would silence her forever and taking what evidence she might have with her. She couldn't let that happen, Saren had to be stopped, and whatever information the Quarian had was sure to be the key she needed to do so.

She spared a glance over her shoulder at her two new found squad members. Garrus, the Turian Citadel Security officer moved with the same alacrity she did, his almost unreadable alien face set in determination. He shared her belief that Saren needed to be dealt with quickly, and though he was somewhat reckless in his judgment, he was very skilled.

Trailing the two, but possessing a surprising speed, Wrex thundered along in chase. He was strange, Jane thought, respecting strong enemies while at the same time ruthless in his execution. He had slain Fist in cold-blood, but was following her direction unquestioningly. His biotic ability was strong, and his endurance was mythic. He was proving to be a stalwart ally, but an almost unbearable headache at the same time.

She finished climbing some stairs that led to the alley where the Quarian was supposed to meet Saren's agents. She approached a descending set of stairs and paused just long enough to assess the situation.

Several bodies were strewn about the alley below, several Salarians and a Turian, none of them were moving. She spotted a young Quarian female prone on the ground, with a man standing over her. She had thought Saren considered himself above using humans as agents, but she had been proven wrong with Fist, who had been in Saren's pocket.

The man was an interesting site, if she had allowed herself enough time to consider it. He was athletic in his build, obviously Asian in his features. His clothing was Japanese of positively ancient design, and his raven hair was tied back in a low ponytail. He began to reach for the Quarian; Shepard wouldn't allow it.

"Go," the simple command urged Garrus and Wrex into action, as she gestured with her left hand, biotic energy refracting the light around her. A high gravity field shot from her hand, gathering the air into a dense ball as it sped toward her target.

* * *

><p>The Quarian lifted a hesitant hand toward Ranma, still unsure of his intentions. Ranma smiled softly, hoping to quell her fear. Just before their hands met, however, Ranma was launched away from the girl as a wave of force slammed into him. A heavy gunshot cracked through the air as a bullet buried itself in the wall behind where his head had been.<p>

He recovered just in time to right himself before he hit a wall. It was in vain, though as a charging Krogan crashed into him with enough force to dent the wall behind him as he was crushed between the Krogan and the wall.

Ranma grunted as the air was forced from his lungs. Gritting his teeth, he grasped both sides of the Krogan's head and raised his feet from the ground to the wall for purchase.

"Nice try," Ranma yelled as he pushed forward off the wall, forcing the Krogan back. With a hard twist, Ranma threw the massive figure to the side, and tumbled over the falling alien. As he landed Ranma rolled to the side quickly, avoiding more gunfire and threw a foot out catching the Krogan in its unprotected back and sent it headfirst into the wall. The Krogan's shotgun was thrown from its grasp, skidding across the alleyway far from its owner.

Bullets rained about him as he once again flipped and tumbled around, narrowly avoiding being struck. He gathered his energy once more and threw another blast where he guessed the unknown assailant was positioned. He heard a grunt as the ball impacted its target. The voice was unmistakably Turian. However, the gunfire did not cease. He glanced toward the remaining source of gunfire.

There, moving steadily down the stairs as she rained fire down upon him was a woman whose face tugged at his memory. Her pretty face was set in determination, one arm raised a pistol in his direction, holding the firearm steady as she pulled the trigger in rapid succession. Her left arm was pulled back, and she seemed to glow with a blue light as she gathered energy to her hand. Remembering Dr. Michel's earlier words, Ranma found himself face to face with Jane Shepard.

He began to laugh as he ducked out of the way of biotic energy that joined the gunfire. He had somehow found himself facing down the Quarian's would-be rescuers. It was the story of his life, if he thought about it. One big misunderstanding after another.

Dodging a lunging tackle by the Krogan he had earlier put down, Ranma dove through the air, bouncing from wall to wall in an unpredictable pattern, and before long was before Shepard. With less than an arm's length between the two Ranma shot his hand out and seized her weapon. Throwing it to the side, he jumped back as she threw a fist at him and raised his hands in surrender.

"Hold on," Ranma begged as he saw the Turian accompanying her aiming down his rifle at him. He continued to evade the strikes Shepard was throwing at him, her form near perfect, but lacking the raw physical ability necessary to strike Ranma. "Hey! Cool it, we're here for the same reason."

She was showing no signs of slowing her offense, however, and Ranma had to grab her fist to stop her assault, and jumped out of the way of the Krogan who once again charged him from behind. As he landed, he pinned both of Jane's arms, and held her in an iron grip. She stood there in his grasp, eyes blazing in determination.

"Shes safe," Ranma said, keeping Jane between him and her allies, his words were finally heard as the loud gunfire was finally ceased. "You guys made it in time, the Quarian is okay." He slowly released Jane from his grasp, and stepped back, hands held before him in a display of peace.

* * *

><p>Jane was less than pleased, she didn't like an unknown third party, especially with something as vitally important as retrieving the Quarian safely, and the information she held. She looked the man over for a moment, running over the fight in her memory quickly.<p>

Whoever he was, he had biotic ability. What was more, he had enough control of said ability, to protect himself from a direct hit from a charging Krogan, and to summon enough force to physically throw Wrex. Beyond that, he was able to move with such speed as to dodge bullets.

However, he had thrown away his advantage without a care, releasing her and stepping back into the line of fire of her companions. She relaxed, allowing some of the adrenaline to fade from her system.

"I'm only going to ask you once," she said after a time, "and if I even think that the Quarian is in any danger from you, Garrus will drop you where you stand." The man nodded and smiled disarmingly.

"Who are you, and why are you here?" Shepard asked. The man smiled and dropped his arms.

"My name's Ranma Saotome," He answered, "Dr. Michel asked me to help out the Quarian after you left her office."

**Chapter 1 End**

**Author's Note Post Script**

Couldn't resist the nod to Hot Fuzz with Aaron. Why do I depict Shepard's biotic ability at such a level even though she is fairly young during the Skyllian Blitz? Simple, if you talk to Kaidan in the game as a biotic he mentions that he sticks with his L2 implants because, possible brain damaging surgery aside, they spike higher than most L3s, excepting Shepard in the same statement. Reading through the wiki, there is mention that Kaidan's abilities are comparable to an Asari's, rendering Shepard even more powerful regardless of biotic class. It should also be mentioned that the wiki is often edited by people who actually worked on the game, not necessarily ensuring accuracy, but its good enough for me.


	2. Meeting the Crew

**Cryo**

**Disclaimer - **I do not own Ranma One Half or Mass Effect, those are owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Electronic Arts, respectively.

**Authors Note**

Here we go again, the next chapter. For those of you wondering, I do not plan on underpowering or upscaling anybody's abilities in this work. Ranma will be Ranma strong, but that does not mean its all smooth sailing for the crew. I will be planning on taking a page out of Erick Wujcik's book on dealing with overpowered characters. If you don't know who Erick is, google him, or wiki him, he was an awesome man, who passed away well before his time. For everyone who wants to know just how strong Ranma is, please read the review from **Logan – Murder of Crows. **Well done calculations on physical abilities. However, because Rumiko Takahashi said herself that Ranma and Ryouga are near evenly matched, I'm going with my gut on this. When you read comparisons to Ranma's abilities versus Ryouga, close the gap a little and bring Ranma closer to Ryouga's level and then you get my interpretation of Ranma in this fic. Now to address some other concerns:

**Inverness – **I hope it doesn't sputter out either. I make no promises, as my muse is fickle.

**High Admiral Thorin – **Ki/Biotics will be explained.

**Horus-dot-poa– **...really?

**LeadStrategist -** Ranma is age 28(212), Shepard is 29, Liara 106, and Tali'Zorah is 22, Jack is 22, Kasumi is 23, Ashley is 25, Jacob is 26, Joker is 28, Kaidan is 32, Miranda is 33, Thane is 37, no age known for Garrus, Wrex, Mordin, or Samara. Puts him within shipping range for a lot of characters, doesn't it?

**Logan – Murder of Crows – **We had a long and spirited debate. Practically three quarters of a chapter in length. Plus a silly, never-will-happen scenario I may include later as an extra for the readers.

**Atlan – **Why would he work for the Consort? She's already his client(Sha'ira is the consort).

**DeltaBladeX – **That would be telling... wait... so is this story... okay let's rephrase that to: that would be telling too soon.

**Winged Golden Tiger – **While I appreciate the support, you need to play Mass Effect. If you don't have a console for it then steal a friend's, if you don't have any friends who have Mass Effect, get new friends. And possibly beat up your current friends.

**Ghoohg – **Wild Effect was … interesting, but it did not inspire this work. I like to take my inspiration from the originals and work with my own ideas.

**Chapter 2 – Meeting the Crew**

Ranma stood easy, knowing full well that Jane's Turian friend was probably ready to put a bullet between his eyes. While he was waiting for Jane's response he kept most of his senses trained on the Turian, Garrus as Shepard had named him. He wasn't quite ready to test if he was bullet proof yet, and he was fast enough to dodge if he had to.

They stood there in the alley, gazing at each other for several long minutes as Jane gauged his response, her sparkling green eyes never straying from his own. He kept his smile up, and put his hands up in front of him again. Before too long, he could see the telltale signs of adrenaline leaving her system. Her shoulders relaxed and she cast a look over her shoulder to Garrus.

"He's okay," Shepard said, "check the area for any other of Saren's men."

"On it, Shepard," Garrus responded, lowering his rifle and quickly checking the alley for any possible threats. The Krogan with them snarled at Ranma before following the order, probably angry for being manhandled earlier.

Ranma felt a light tug on the sleeve of his uwagi and looked over his shoulder. The Quarian girl had moved up behind him, putting him between herself and the heavily armed people present. Her arms were folded protectively around her torso, with one hand reaching out from the self embrace to grasp his sleeve. She was peering just over his shoulder, still shaken up from the altercation just moments before. He turned to face her.

"Its okay," he reassured the girl, "they're friends, I think." He looked over to Jane, who nodded at his words. "You're safe now...um, I'm sorry, Chloe had said your name earlier but I can't remember." She was silent for a moment, her shining eyes piercing through the clouded glass of her visor, unblinkingly.

"Tali," She said after a moment, a plate on her helmet over her mouth lighting up as she spoke, "Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. Dr. Michel sent you?" Ranma smiled at her.

"Yeah, I helped her out a couple years ago," Ranma answered, "she hadn't realized that Fist had changed his allegiance, and things happened so quickly that she didn't have time to contact Shepard or Garrus."

"No threats around, Shepard," Garrus said, approaching Jane, "we should have come here first, everyone at C-Sec knows Fist likes this alley. The Salarians are all knocked out, the Turian over there is dead; he hit the wall like Wrex did earlier. I called in some back up from C-Sec to handle the cleanup." He couldn't keep the amusement out of his voice, looking down the alley as the Krogan, Wrex, approached. He grunted at Garrus' words.

"If he survived a hit like that, I'd be surprised," Wrex settled next to Jane, opposite Garrus, and managed to look intimidating, despite his relaxed posture.

"How?" Tali's awed voice took Ranma's attention once more. "How did you do that? It was... I've never seen anyone move like that. I couldn't see you move, and you were unarmed!" Jane appeared startled at that statement, despite the brief skirmish she had with Ranma just moments ago.

"Unarmed?" Jane asked, incredulous, "none of the weapons on the ground are yours?" Ranma shrugged at her, shaking his head. "What the hell would make you take on six armed mercenaries without a weapon? Are you insane?" Ranma bit out a laugh at the question.

"Nope," he smiled, "I'm just that good." Jane regarded him, nonplussed at his statement.

"Biotic training, then," she said, nodding to herself. Ranma shook his head.

"Not that I know of," Ranma said, shrugging. "Don't need any fancy implants to do what I do. Those things look like they hurt, I have a few L2 clients who come in for migraines."

"Clients?" Jane asked.

"I'm a chiropractor," Ranma gestured to his outfit, "a little out of style, but my mentor wore the same thing. I have a practice on the presidium, part of SACOP." Jane stared at him a little longer, before shaking her head.

"Okay, this is getting off purpose now," she said, "Tali, was it?" At Tali's nod, she continued. "I was led to believe you have proof that Saren led the attack on Eden Prime." Tali hesitated for a moment, before nodding.

"I do, I was trying to get protection," she offered. "I knew this information would get me into trouble." She moaned.

"I know you just went through a terrifying ordeal, but I need you to come with me to Ambassador Udina's office," Jane explained. Tali hesitated for a moment, before looking at Ranma, she tightened her grip on his sleeve, she had yet to let go.

"Please," she asked, "I know you're probably busy, but..." she trailed off, not finishing her sentence. Ranma gave Jane a look that said _What are you going to do?_ Jane rolled her eyes.

"Ranma, would you mind accompanying us for a bit?" Jane asked. "I know you need to get back to your practice, but this is important, and its best if Tali feels comfortable." Ranma looked down at Tali again, and smiled. Raising his wrist, he activated his omni-tool and typed out a quick message before sending it to his clients.

"Looks like my schedule is clear," he said to Jane, "I can tag along, sure." Jane sighed in relief, sure that it would be easier for Tali to share her information if she felt safe.

"Okay, lets get going, then," Jane started walking down the alley, toward the exit, the others following behind her.

Ranma still felt Tali holding onto his sleeve, so he looked down at her, and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him with a gasp, and stepped back slightly, letting go of his sleeve. She looked away quickly, the hand that was gripping his sleeve now absently rubbing at her arm.

"Thank you," she said, as they followed Shepard onto an elevator, "If you hadn't come along when you did I might be..."

"Don't worry about it," Ranma said, "those guys didn't stand a chance." He leaned casually against one of the walls of the elevator. They stood in silence for a moment before Jane spoke up.

"You said you don't have any biotic training?" She asked, looking him over, probably checking for any hidden implants. Ranma turned his head and lifted his ponytail, showing off the back of his neck. The skin was flawless, no signs of any surgery.

"Nope," he answered simply, "just a lot of practice."

"What do you mean, a lot of practice? What you did, that was something that most biotics can't do. How did you throw that biotic energy, then?" Jane asked, pressing him for details.

"That? I'm pretty sure its not biotic," Ranma answered, scratching at the base of his ponytail "its a technique I developed when I was younger. Like I said, I'm a chiropractor, but I've also trained since I was pretty young in various martial arts."

"Martial arts?" Jane asked, skeptically. "That doesn't make any sense, if it was just martial arts, then anybody could do that. How do you do that technique, exactly?" Ranma was silent for a moment, as he thought about how to explain the Mouko Takabisha.

"When I was younger there was this guy," Ranma said, "his name was Ryouga, and he was a rival of mine. We fought a lot, but one day he came at me with a new technique called the Shishi Houkoudan. It used chi, life energy, to gather a dense ball of air, and throw it at your opponent. I tried to do the same thing, and I could reproduce it. There was a problem with it, though."

As he was explaining, Jane's skeptical look became more pronounced at the story.

"I'm not sure I believe you on the whole chi thing, but what was the problem?" Jane asked. Ranma shrugged, he knew most people didn't believe in magic and chi in his time, and with the level of technology, he was unsurprised that others would be skeptical.

"The problem was that the Shishi Houkoudan required a hard to maintain emotion: depression. I couldn't keep the right mindset for very long, so I had difficulty using that technique," Ranma explained. "I did some experimentation and found that I could use different emotions and still use the technique."

"Wait," Jane interrupted him, "you're saying that as long as you focused on a single mindset hard enough you could gather the air?" Ranma paused, and considered her words. It was pretty accurate.

"Yeah," Ranma said, "that's the long and short, I guess."

"Sounds an awful lot like biotics to me then," Jane said, "Asari can use them without implants, if they train and develop the ability." Ranma shrugged and smiled.

"Last I checked, my skin wasn't blue." The elevator door suddenly opened, and the greens and blues of the presidium welcomed them.

"Come on, we have to get to Udina," Shepard said, her tone making it clear that she was not ready to let the subject drop. The group of five made their way quickly through the presidium, Jane leading the way.

"How do you treat the L2 biotics?" Jane asked Ranma as they approached the embassies.

"That's not too hard, actually," Ranma answered, "there are several nerve bundles that can be pressed, and meditation exercises that help suppress the migraines." He shrugged, "acupressure can alleviate the migraines quickly, the meditation helps to reduce them over the long term."

"How does meditation stop migraines?" Jane pushed.

"There were studies over the years, but none of them ever really hit the mainstream," Ranma explained, "Most doctors just like to prescribe pain killers and move on to the next, but that's not a good answer. People who meditate often think different than people who don't." Jane raised a delicate eyebrow.

"I'm not a brain doctor, but from what I read, people who meditate often use different parts of their brain. The longer you do it, the better the results." Ranma said. "I've helped a few L2s over the last two years, and it seems to be working; they need the acupressure less and less."

"How much less?" Jane asked as they began to ascend the stairs to the Human embassy.

"Well, there are three that I've been working with," Ranma offered, "they all needed the acupressure about every other day, at first. Now one of them only needs the acupressure once a week, the others need it twice."

"I can see how that would be useful." Jane said, ending the conversation as the doors to Udina's office opened. The relaxed atmosphere the group had enjoyed was immediately obliterated by the high-strung Ambassador Udina.

"Shepard!" Udina shouted as they entered, "I've been getting reports and complaints. Firefights in allies and an assault on Chora's Den? You've put me in a very embarrassing situation, explain yourself." In the room stood Ambassador Udina and another man, he was black, wearing a System's Alliance navy officer uniform. The group shared a glance at each other before Jane answered.

"Self defense, Ambassador," Jane said, leaving out the fact that she instigated the fight in the alley with Ranma, "but I have what we need now." Udina deflated at her words.

"You have the evidence, then?" he asked. Jane nodded and stepped to the side, gesturing to Tali.

"Tali here has some information that Saren is trying to keep secret." She said. Tali glanced back at Ranma for a moment, he smiled at her reassuringly.

"I managed to salvage some data from a Geth's audio banks while I was on my pilgrimage." she explained, activating her omni-tool.

"Pilgrimage?" Jane asked, not sure what she meant.

"Its a Quarian tradition, young Quarians leave the migrant fleet and only return when they have found something of use to the fleet. It proves we are willing to do what we can to aid the Quarian people." Tali explained, Jane nodded in understanding.

"I thought Geth fried their data after they are destroyed," Jane asked.

"They do, but if you're skilled enough and lucky, you can retrieve some of the data before its gone." Tali answered before she played the audio log. There were some quirky sounding noises before a voice belonging to a Turian was heard.

"Obtaining the beacon on Eden Prime was a great victory, and it has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit." the voice said.

"That's Saren's voice," the Navy officer said, "this is just what we need to get the council to revoke his spectre status!"

"What I want to know is what is the Conduit." Jane said.

"I don't know, maybe its some sort of super weapon, but this proves Saren was on Eden Prime."

"Wait," Tali interrupted, "there's more." She continued to play the audio file. Another voice, feminine broke in.

"And once step closer to the return of the Reapers." Everyone appeared to be at a loss as to who the voice belonged to.

"I'm not sure who the second voice is, or what the Reapers are." Tali said. Jane was not as confused.

"The Reapers are an ancient machine race that wiped out the Protheans fifty thousand years ago," Jane clarified. "That's what I saw in those visions, it wasn't the Geth, it was the Reapers."

"Then all the more reason to stop Saren," the officer said. "We need to get this to the Council immediately."

"Not so fast, Anderson," Udina interrupted, "I won't have you endangering this Council session."

"You can't just cut Captain Anderson out of the loop," Jane protested.

"He's right, Shepard," the officer, Anderson said, "I have a history with Saren, as long as I'm there, the Council won't listen to a thing we say."

"Come, Shepard," Udina commanded, "Meet me at the Citadel Tower."

"Wait," Tali said, "take me with you." Jane was shocked at the request.

"What about your pilgrimage?" she asked.

"What would it say about me if I selfishly returned to the fleet when there is something like this going on?" Tali reasoned. Jane nodded.

"Okay then, welcome aboard." She answered.

"Are you sure about this, Shepard?" Udina asked, less than pleased. "She is a Quarian, after all."

"And without her we wouldn't have the evidence we need." Jane countered. "If I'm going to take Saren down, I'm going to need all the help I can get." Udina nodded curtly and left the embassy suite. Ranma approached Tali.

"Are you okay from here?" he asked. Tali stared at him for a long while, as though she was weighing something in her mind.

"I'll be fine, thank you," She said at length, "for saving my life."

"Any time." Ranma said, before excusing himself, and returning to his apartment.

* * *

><p>Ranma was busy rearranging his schedule, calling clients he had canceled that day to help out Tali. It was tedious work, and not for the first time, Ranma pondered if he should hire a secretary. He was broken out of his thoughts as the door to his practice opened. Looking up he was surprised to see Tali, Garrus and Jane walk through his door.<p>

"Hey, guys," he greeted them, "I take it that since you're here and not out tracking down Saren, the session didn't go well?" Jane leveled a smirk in his direction.

"The opposite," she said, "you're looking at the first Human spectre." Ranma's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Congratulations, I guess," he offered, extending his hand, which Jane shook. "What brings you here, then? Got a few kinks you need taken care of?" Jane shook her head.

"Always have a few kinks to work out," Jane said, "but that's not why we're here." Ranma furrowed his brow in confusion. He didn't like where this was going all of a sudden.

"So... why are you here?" he asked bluntly. Jane looked him in the eye, her expression serious, having lost the smirk she wore just a moment earlier.

"I want you to come with me," she explained, "Saren is no longer a spectre, and I have a mission to find him and bring him in. I was allowed to bring along anyone I thought might be able to help me with my mission, and like I said earlier, I can use all the help I can get."

"So?" Ranma asked. "Looked like you had a pretty good team, already. I mean, he's just a Turian, right?" Garrus bristled at his words, placing a claw on the pistol at his hip.

"Just a Turian?" He sputtered, "spectre status not withstanding, Saren was one of the best-" Ranma raised a hand to cut him off. He reached over to a small pile of scrolls he kept on hand to give his practice an 'old tradition' feel and, picking one up, tossed one to Garrus.

Garrus caught the scroll and opened it looking at the figure of a Turian with several dots around its body. Writing adorned the picture, a style he had never seen before.

"What's this?" he asked.

"That shows how I can drop you before you draw your pistol," Ranma stated, calm as can be. "Turian has nothing to do with it; he's scum, but he's still just one guy." Jane stepped in before an argument could ensue, even if Ranma was being a jerk.

"He's one guy who happens to have an Asari matriarch working with him," Jane said, taking Ranma by surprise, "and an army of Geth."

"Everyone keeps saying that word," Ranma said, he liked excitement as much as the next guy, but he had responsibilities as a doctor."What the hell is a Geth, anyway?" The others shared a look, shocked at Ranma's ignorance. Jane spoke first.

"You don't know what a Geth is?" she asked, voice carrying a tone of disbelief. Ranma huffed.

"I've only been on the Citadel for two years," he clarified, "before that I was on Earth my whole life." It made sense, Jane figured, it was not like the Geth were an everyday subject, and certainly would not be a topic of any frequency on Earth. He did not understand the magnitude of the threat facing the galaxy.

"The Geth," Tali began, "are a race of machines created by the Quarians three hundred years ago. They began as simple laborers to help us on our planet. Unfortunately, we continued to improve them until one day they gained sentience and became true AIs." Her voice was sad, carrying the sorrow of an entire people. "We tried to take them offline before they realized they were being used as labor and rebelled. We didn't succeed, and after billions of Quarians were lost, we were forced from our home to wander the stars."

"The Geth alone are bad enough," Jane continued after Tali fell silent, "but Saren is trying to bring back the Reapers. Fifty thousand years ago they wiped out all advanced civilization, and they could do the same to us. Saren needs to be stopped."

Ranma sighed, even if the Reapers were long gone, he knew they were right. If the Geth could almost destroy an entire race when they were unprepared, then they could do much worse if they were the aggressors.

"Alright, I get your point," he said after a moment. "How long will we be gone?" Jane gave Ranma an apologetic look.

"That's not clear," she said, "Saren is good, and he has a head start. The Council is gathering information on Saren's recent activities, and we'll start from there." Ranma moved back to his desk and began working at his terminal.

"Give me a bit to let my patients know I'll be out for a while," he said, "when are we leaving?"

"An hour ago," Jane said, emphasizing the urgency of the task at hand. "Head down to C-Sec headquarters and from there take the elevator to the Alliance docking bay." Ranma nodded at her instruction. With that, Jane, Tali and Garrus turned to leave.

"Ranma?" Jane said, getting his attention before she left.

"Yeah?" He acknowledged.

"I have an L2 on my team," she explained, "Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko."

"I'll bring what I can," Ranma offered, "some stuff for Turians, too. I don't have anything for Quarians or Krogan, but I'm sure I can figure it out while we're out." Jane smiled, and with that they left Ranma to set his affairs in order before meeting them at the Alliance docking bay.

* * *

><p>Ranma looked down at the pack he carried while he rode the elevator. Two years ago, when he first arrived on the Citadel, it was barely half full with all of his worldly possessions. Now, as he was getting ready to depart on a dangerous mission, it was packed with all he felt he could afford to carry. Most of it was clothing, as well as a few datapads, with almost all of his charts and texts for chiropractic procedures and meditation techniques.<p>

He had left instructions for the L2s he had been helping so that they could continue their sessions alone until he could return. He was looking forward to meeting Jane's L2 teammate and helping him with whatever problems he had.

The long elevator ride ended shortly, and the door opened, giving him an excellent view of the Serpent Nebula stretching out beyond the docking bay. There was one ship docked there, it was sleek with a sweeping body style that Ranma had never seen before. On its side was written SSV Normandy, the ship's name.

Ambassador Udina brushed by Ranma as he exited the elevator, without so much as a 'hello.' Ranma snorted at his rude behavior before ignoring him. The man's arrogant behavior constantly grated on Ranma's nerves, he was happy that he hardly ever had to talk to the man.

As Ranma approached the gangway leading to the ship, he spotted Jane and Captain Ansderson shaking hands before Anderson left for the elevator as well. As he moved past Ranma, he gave a nod, which Ranma returned. Jane smiled as Ranma approached.

"Is everything ready?" she asked him.

"Is it ever?" he shot back, smiling ruefully. She returned his smile, before moving off the pier to the gangway.

"No, I guess not," she agreed, "come on, I'll introduce you to the crew. Wrex, Garrus and Tali are already on board." Ranma followed her to the ship.

"What did Udina and the Captain want?" Ranma asked as a soft light began to sweep over them, a tinny voice announcing decontamination.

"It was good news and bad news," Jane explained, "the good news is that we have some leads to follow up on for tracking Saren." Ranma nodded.

"And the bad news?" he asked.

"Captain Anderson is stepping down as commanding officer of the Normandy," she said, "leaving me in charge." Ranma raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"How is that bad?" he asked. There was a ping, and the door opened, giving them passage to the dimly lit halls of the Normandy. Jane sighed at his question.

"Anderson is a good man, and one of the best commanding officers I had the honor of serving under," she said, "without his support and direction, the mission is going to be very difficult."

He followed her to the left, toward the bridge. He shrugged after some thought.

"It can't be that bad," he said at length, "you got Garrus and Wrex to follow your direction pretty good, they didn't even fight against your commands when you guys fought me, even though you didn't stand a chance." Jane took a moment to look offended at Ranma's words, before shaking her head. She could already see a lot of problems with bringing him along. His blunt attitude was going to ruffle some feathers, she just hoped it wouldn't jeopardize the mission.

"You were an unknown," she defended, "I don't like to brag, but my biotic ability is pretty high for a human. There was no way we were prepared to engage an opponent with your level of ability, especially a human one." He smiled and shrugged, she was cute when she pouted, the petulant child in him could already sense she'd be fun to tease.

They approached to forward most point of the bridge, where a man sat at some of the most complicated controls Ranma was sure he had ever seen. The man wore an alliance uniform, and sported a ball cap as well as a scruffy beard.

"That sucks about Anderson," the man said, "survives countless missions only to be taken down by backroom politics." Jane nodded to the man.

"I don't like it, Joker," she said, "he should be here in command, not me."

"Don't sell yourself short," the man, Joker, countered, "everyone here is ready to follow your command, speaking of which, com is open if you have any words for the crew before we depart." Jane nodded, and was silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts.

"This is Commander Shepard," Jane said, finally, steeling her resolve, "we have our orders. We are to track down Saren before he reaches the conduit. Saren knows we're coming, he will be ready. But remember, Humanity needs to do this. Not jut for ourselves, but for every species in the galaxy. We have stood apart from the galactic community for too long, its time to stand up and show the galaxy what Humanity has to offer." She cut the com when she finished speaking.

"Well said, commander," Joker said, moved by her words, "Captain Anderson would be proud."

"He gave up everything so I would have this chance," Jane said, "we can't fail." Joker nodded, and Jane moved away from the bridge toward the aft of the ship, gesturing to Ranma for him to follow.

"Come on, I'll give you a quick tour," Jane said to Ranma. They passed from a narrow corridor from the bridge toward the aft of the Normandy. As they came upon a large device with an image of the Milky Way they approached a man with balding gray hair.

"Ranma, this is Navigator Pressly," she introduced Ranma to the man, "he is the Executive Officer here on the Normandy." Ranma could only cast a confused look to Jane. She rubbed the bridge of her nose, every other person with her right now had at least some familiarity with the military chain of command. She had forgotten that Ranma was strictly a civilian.

"That means he is the second in command," she explained. Ranma nodded in understanding.

"Commander Shepard, good to see you decided to include another non-Alliance crew member," he said, sarcasm thick, "at least this one's human. Honestly, Commander, this is the most advanced ship in the Alliance fleet. Are you sure about this, Commander? Quarians, Krogan... Turians?" Jane narrowed her eyes at her XO.

"Pressly," she said, "this mission is vital to every species in Citadel space. They all have a vested interest in our success. And while this is indeed the most advance ship in the Alliance, the Turians helped engineer it. Will having aliens on board interfere with your duties?"

"No, ma'am," Pressly said, "I can keep it professional. You won't hear another word from me." With a nod, Jane dismissed Pressly, and continued to the stairs to the lower deck, Ranma in tow.

"The Normandy has three decks, the second deck contains the mess, medical, my quarters and the crew bunks." she explained as they descended the stairs. "We use a hot bunking system, crew members share a bunk, and are scheduled time to sleep between shifts." Ranma nodded, he had had to deal with worse when he was younger.

They moved around the elevator at the bottom of the stairs, and as they rounded the corner, Ranma could see some small tables arranged just behind the elevator. There were several lockers lining the wall and on either side of the mess hall were two doors, and a hallway leading further aft of the Normandy, where Ranma could see several standing bunks.

Standing to the left side of the room, if facing to the aft of the Normandy, was a dark haired man holding a datapad. He was clean shaven, with short hair that was neatly kept. Jane approached the man, who saluted as she drew nearer. She returned the salute.

"At ease, Lieutenant," Jane said, and the man lowered his arm. "Ranma, this is Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. Kaidan, this is Ranma Saotome, he will be joining the crew for the mission to stop Saren." Kaidan smiled and extended a hand, which Ranma shook.

"Nice to meet you, Ranma," Kaidan said, "I knew we were taking on some alien crew, I didn't know we were accepting civilians, though." His tone was kind, without the sarcasm that Pressly spoke with.

"Ranma displayed an unusual capability for conflict when we were recovering Tali," Jane explained to Kaidan. "He seems to have some biotic ability," Jane smiled at Ranma's annoyed expression, "though he claims to have no biotic training, or implants. He's a chiropractor on the Citadel, and has experience treating L2s." Kaidan's eyebrows rose in surprise at her introduction.

Ranma looked Kaidan over for a moment, noticing signs of stress that he was currently attempting to suppress. Ranma placed a hand on Kaidan's shoulder.

"You're having a migraine, aren't you?" He asked, Kaidan's eyes widened slightly, but he nodded.

"I can usually function through the pain," he explained, "sometimes they are worse, though, like today."

"May I?" Ranma asked, at Kaidan's nod, Ranma reached both hands to either side of his face, and placed the middle finger of each hand at a point about one inch behind Kaidan's eyebrows. He pushed firmly, Kaidan grunting in pain, and began slow, circular motions.

"This will take about a minute," Ranma said. Jane watched as Kaidan's eyebrows eventually relaxed from the furrow he had held them in. Eventually, Ranma nodded, apparently satisfied with his work.

"How do you feel now?" Ranma asked. Kaidan opened his eyes, and gave his head a few experimental shakes, and smiled.

"The pain is still there," he explained, "but its very small. How did you do that? I massage my temples all the time and I can't do what you just did." Ranma smiled.

"Acupressure," Ranma explained, "most people know the more common points on the human body to relieve pain, but they don't know how use the points properly."

"Like I said," Jane spoke, "Ranma is a chiropractor with experience treating L2s. He said that he knows some meditation exercises that will help to reduce the frequency of your migraines." Ranma nodded, before continuing the explanation.

"If you'd like, we can hold sessions to help you," Ranma said, "I'm not sure how long we will be out, but I should be able to teach you enough to continue on your own after the mission. Between sessions, if you feel a migraine, don't hesitate to come see me and I'll help reduce the pain. Its better for you than keeping your system flooded with pain killers."

Kaidan smiled, deep and happily. He took Ranma's hand and shook it once more.

"I can't thank you enough," he said to Ranma, "I can already tell we'll be good friends. I look forward to working with you." Ranma nodded and returned Kaidan's smile.

"Come on, Ranma," Jane said, "I'll finish showing you around the ship and get you settled into medical. Lieutenant."

"Ma'am," Kaidan acknowledged, and turned back to the datapad in his hands. Jane led Ranma back to the elevator, and stepped inside, Ranma following.

"Below is the cargo deck and engineering," Jane explained, "we keep various supplies and personnel lockers down here, as well as the mako, a heavy duty all terrain vehicle." The elevator eventually stopped. Ranma whistled at the size of the cargo bay.

"Pretty spacious," he said, "would it be okay for me to use this space to exercise?" Jane nodded at his question.

"As long as you will be fit for duty when I need you," she said.

"Not a problem," Ranma answered. Jane led him over to a set of lockers, and pointed one out to Ranma.

"This will be your locker," Jane said, "even though you will be medical, I might take you with me on missions. Once I figure out the extent of your abilities and how best to use them, that is." Ranma nodded, already having figured he was along for more than curing headaches.

After he placed his bag in the locker, Ranma followed Jane further along the wall to a workstation where a young woman was cleaning a rifle. The woman saluted Jane as she approached, as Kaidan had earlier.

"At ease, Williams," Jane requested, the woman followed the order quickly. "Ashley, this is Ranma Saotome, he will be joining Dr. Chakwas in medical. Ranma this is Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams." Ashley shook Ranma's hand, and smiled.

"Its good to see another Human on board," Ashley said, "it was getting a little weird down here for my tastes." Jane frowned at Ashley's words.

"That won't be a problem, will it Williams?" Jane asked, Ashley shook her head violently.

"Not at all ma'am," she said quickly, "I'm wherever you need me, no complaints." Jane smiled.

"Good," she said, "Ranma here is a hand-to-hand expert, he'll be using the cargo hold to practice. I'd like you to work with him."

"Hand-to-hand, ma'am?" Ashley scoffed, "I like my rifle, just fine." Jane smiled, she would have felt the same way had she not seen Ranma in action.

"While I'm positive most of our encounters will necessitate the use of small arms," Jane explained, "hand-to-hand training should help hand-eye coordination and reaction times."

"Ma'am?" Ashley asked, unsure of what she meant. Jane laughed lightly.

"I still can't believe it, but Ranma here was able to dodge gunfire," she clarified. Ashley laughed.

"Pull the other one, skipper," she chuckled, "its going to be a long mission, and I need a good laugh."

"Practice with him once," Jane asked, "for me. If you don't think it'll help after, then you don't have to do it again." Ashley shrugged.

"Sure thing skipper, whatever you want."

"Thank you, see you later, Ash."

"Ma'am," Ashley said. Jane nodded to her before moving back to engineering, taking Ranma with her. The sight that greeted Ranma in engineering was something he was not prepared for.

Suspended between three long arms was a ball of brilliant energy. He could feel it, pulsing with power like Happosai when they had fought so many times in the past. Electricity was arcing off the ball, crawling along the arms, which spun madly about it. There were several people in the room, including Tali. They were all absorbed in their tasks, monitoring the engine output of the Normandy.

"This is the eezo core for the Normandy," Jane explained, "state of the art, it is able to enter a stealth type flight mode so we can move about undetected in enemy space." Ranma nodded in appreciation, that would be pretty useful, indeed.

Ranma moved up behind Tali, who seemed oblivious to his presence. He smiled, he hadn't done this since he lived with the Tendos. He raised both hands to his mouth, cupping them to project his voice.

"Boo!" Tali jumped with a shriek, dropping the datapad she had been using. She whirled suddenly, her glowing eyes narrowed in irritation.

"Don't do that, you bosh'tet!" She punched out, slapping Ranma's shoulder, who just laughed at the reaction. Her eyes widened suddenly, upon seeing who had startled her, and deflated as suddenly as she had jumped.

"Ranma!" she gasped out, clutching at her chest to still her wildly beating heart. "You shouldn't sneak up on someone like that, what if I'd been working on the drive core? I could have overloaded it." Ranma smiled widely.

"They already let you do that?" He asked, surprised.

"Well... no, not yet," Tali replied timidly, "but what if it had been someone else? Engineer Adams could have had a heart attack." Ranma smiled and waved his hand lightly.

"Sorry, my bad," he said jovially, "wouldn't have scared the other guys though, wouldn't have been as cute." Tali stilled at his comment, and began to wring her hands together nervously. She started to sputter nonsense while trying to respond to Ranma's words.

"Ranma!" Jane called, he turned to see her half-amused irritated expression. "If you're finished trying to blow up my ship, let's get you up to medical so you can meet Dr. Chakwas." Ranma laughed and nodded.

"Sure thing, see you around Tali," he called to the Quarian girl and waved before following Jane back to the elevator. Once there, Jane cuffed him lightly on the back of the head, as the elevator rose.

"This is a serious mission, Ranma," she admonished, "please refrain from scaring the other crew while they're on duty." He smiled at her words.

"Sure thing, I'll only scare them off duty, then." Jane rolled her eyes at his statement, but let the subject rest, hopefully she wouldn't have to deal with a crew that was constantly on edge. She could already feel a headache forming. She pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I can even cure the headaches I cause," Ranma laughed. Jane scowled at him and punched him in the shoulder. The elevator halted its ascent and the doors opened.

"Just what I need, another Joker," Jane complained as they moved to the medical bay. The doors opened with a soft hiss, and Ranma was led into the room.

The medical bay was quiet, more so than the rest of the ship. There were several cots along the walls, and a few desks. Cabinets lined the walls, presumably containing medical equipment to treat soldiers. Sitting at one of the desks was an older woman, wearing an Alliance doctor's uniform. She stood as the two approached, taking a quick sip from a cup of coffee she held in her hand with a slight grimace.

"Commander," the woman acknowledged, "this must be Ranma. Imagine my surprise when I checked up on Kaidan only to find him not only cured of a migraine he professed to having earlier, but in an oddly chipper mood." Jane smiled and nodded.

"Ranma, I'd like you to meet Dr. Karin Chakwas. She's the chief medical officer here on the Normandy," Jane introduced, "Dr. Chakwas, this is Ranma Saotome. He'll be assisting you in the med bay during his shift. He'll also be assisting Kaidan with his headaches." Chakwas nodded to Ranma.

She tried to set the coffee she was holding on the desk, but missed, dropping it. Ranma swiftly caught the cup before it could hit the ground, twisting it with a flourish to prevent the liquid from splashing out of the container. He bowed with a light flourish, setting the cup back on the desk.

"Don't want everyone getting all wet, huh?" he said aloud with a smile. Karin was awed at his quick reflexes, while Jane just rolled her eyes. In her opinion he really needed to stop showing off, it was not like a little spilled coffee was the end of the world.

"It will be nice to have some assistance," Karin said, "sometimes these old bones make it difficult to move heavier people and equipment around. I'm sure a strapping young lad like you could help an old lady, yes?"

"Whatever you need, doc," Ranma offered, "I think I have some acupressure charts that should help with arthritis."

"Oh, you," Karin laughed, smacking Ranma's shoulder, "allow an old woman her fun. Now, as you're here and available, I'd like to give you some immuno-boosters. The sterile environment on a star ship can play havoc with a person's immune system." Ranma shrugged, and held out an arm.

Karin picked up a syringe she had placed on her desk earlier, obviously prepared to do this from the start. She placed the needle at Ranma's forearm and pushed, only to have the needle shatter as it failed to pierce Ranma's skin. Karin raised an eyebrow and looked at Ranma.

"That was unexpected," she said, astonished at the toughness of Ranma's skin. "Luckily I picked up some more durable needles once I heard a Krogan would be on board." Ranma stopped her before she could move.

"No need, hold on a moment," he said, and closed his eyes. The skin that had broken the needle seemed to shimmer with a soft blue light for a moment. "There, you should be able to do the shot now." Karin looked at him skeptically for a moment before retrieving a second syringe.

This time the needle did not break, piercing the skin easily and depositing its payload. Karin looked Ranma over for a moment then activated her omni-tool after she had placed the empty syringe in a waste receptacle. A broad beam of light shot out from the tool and swept over Ranma for a moment. She looked over various graphs and images that flashed above her omni-tool for a moment. Karin's eyes widened in shock.

"Most interesting," she breathed out, "Commander come look at this." She pressed a few buttons at the terminal on her desk, causing a large display to appear. There were several figures and diagrams, including a human figure with strange, shining pathways leading from the head to the tips of each limb. Jane looked the display over for a moment, before gasping.

"Ranma, did you know about this?" She asked. He shook his head.

"Honestly," Ranma said, "I haven't been to a doctor in almost twelve years." He moved over to the two women and looked over the display with them. He let out a low whistle at what he saw.

"Wow, that's cool," was all he could say. The pathways were listed as neurons, the key map on the display showed that the soft green color they were giving off was an indication of the presence of Element Zero. "What does it mean?" he asked. Karin rubbed the bridge of her nose with a sigh. Hitting a few buttons she pulled up another image, the name Shepard ran across the top.

The new image showed similar neural pathways. However, rather than the neurons glowing a soft green there were small balls of brilliant green here and there along the spinal column and at the base of the skull.

"As you can see here," Karin instructed, "most biotics, like Shepard, have nodules of Element Zero that they can manipulate using the electrochemical impulses from the nervous system." Ranma nodded, following along. Karin switched the image back to Ranma.

"Here you can see that you lack the same nodules," Karin continued, "instead your entire nervous system is sheathed in trace amounts of Element Zero. Normally, such low levels of Element Zero are impossible to manipulate. To do so would require careful manipulation of your nervous system on par with an Asari." Dr. Chakwas pulled up another file, it was Ranma's personnel file from the Citadel. She leveled her gaze at Ranma.

"What I want to know is where you came in contact with Element Zero," she pointed at his date of birth, "seeing as how it wasn't even discovered when you were young enough to receive any benefit at all." Jane looked bewildered.

"That can't be right," she denied, "you can't be more than thirty!" Ranma shrugged his shoulders, he should have seen this coming.

"There was an accident when I was younger," he explained, "I was frozen for a while. I don't really want to talk about it; its not a very good memory." Jane looked at him for a long moment before nodding. "I'm not really sure about the Element Zero, though. The only thing that comes to mind were all of the 'mystic' wells and springs my pop dragged me to all over Japan and China." Karin nodded, as though he had confirmed something.

"I often thought myths and legends were strange," she thought aloud, "perhaps there has been Element Zero on Earth longer than we thought, and there is more truth to the myths than we first assumed. It would be most interesting to investigate, were we not already tied up." Dr. Chakwas pulled up one more image.

"What is even more interesting," she said, "is that your possession of Element Zero is not the most puzzling thing about you." She pointed at the image on screen: it appeared to be a twisting ladder-like structure. There was a ghostly image superimposed over it, a similar ladder-like structure.

"I would have thought this was some sort of glitch," she admitted, "but there is something attached to your DNA. The only reason I think it is not a glitch, is that it is a complete sequence, with only one discrepancy." She hit a few keys and separated the images. Ranma was unsure what she was talking about, this was a little beyond the realm of his chiropractic studies. "This second sequence contains two x chromosomes. Care to explain?" Ranma paled at her words, then shook his head rapidly.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Ranma chuckled nervously, backing away from the desk, putting space between him and the coffee cup that was sitting innocently on the desk, it wasn't steaming, and that left Ranma feeling nervous. Unfortunately for Ranma, as Karin turned to keep her eyes on him as he moved back, her hand hit the cup that was sitting on her desk. As the cup tipped forward, coffee was thrown from the container, and physics took over from there. Ranma watched as the brown liquid spread through the air, praying to whatever god would listen that the coffee was at least warm. Alas, much to Ranma's dismay, when the coffee touched his arm, he found out that it was quite cold by now.

Ranma shrank several inches as the water came in contact with him, his shoulders becoming more slender. His rugged hands became thin and dainty, and his well defined muscles seemed to disappear. His chest began to swell and his hair faded from raven to bright red. In place of Ranma was a petite girl, with a body that left Jane's mouth dry.

"Believe it or not," Ranma said in a higher pitched voice, waving her hands before her in a calming manner, "there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this."

**Chapter 2 End**

**Author's Note Post Script**

And SCIENCE! Can explain just about anything if you're willing to bend(break) some(all) of the rules. Ranma's curse will be explored and explained in the next chapter, as well as their departure to track down Saren. I always imagined that if the Protheans and other species were performing evolutionary experiments on primitive races that they might also have experimented with Eezo on them as well. There are many myths containing wells or springs that give the drinker power to do super human feats. That will be the explanation in this fic, anyhow. Ah well, another day another chap. I don't normally ask people to review, but if I'm getting almost two thousand visitors on a single chapter, the ratio of reader to reviewer is pretty skewed if you ask me. So please, take a moment to tell me what you think.


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